The press conference at Old Trafford was, as usual, packed with reporters from various media outlets.
Sir Ferguson attended the pre-match press conference against Cambridge United today, accompanied by Rooney.
As soon as the host announced the start of questions, reporters eagerly threw their questions at Sir Ferguson.
"Sir Ferguson, Cambridge United just defeated Hull City 3-1 in the Premier League; do you think this will motivate them to beat Manchester United?"
Watson clearly didn't want Ferguson to brush him off with such a perfunctory answer.
"Since you like talking about other teams so much, let me ask you, what is Leeds' current ranking?"
Watson was stunned, not expecting Ferguson to counter-question him.
"Uh, they're ranked 17th."
Ferguson smiled slightly and continued to ask:
"And Manchester United?"
"2nd."
"Very good, I think the current League ranking already answers your question."
Watson was still trying to hype up the topic,
"Speaking of rankings, Cambridge United is currently ranked sixth in the Premier League, and some media have boldly predicted that Cambridge United could upset Manchester United at Old Trafford..."
Before Watson could finish speaking, Ferguson directly pressed his hand down, interrupting his question.
"I really have no interest in answering such questions. If you insist on finding a topic for this match, my granddaughter just won an award in a jewelry design competition. I think I can offer her congratulations with a victory that has no suspense whatsoever."
With that, Ferguson rose and left the press conference, even though time had smoothed his edges, he still refused to waste time on such boring questions from the media.
Reporters, long accustomed to Ferguson's style, immediately turned their questions to the unfortunate Rooney...
Carrick, Scholes, Giggs—looking at these resounding names on Manchester United's early released starting lineup, Huang Hao also felt immense pressure.
Although the team, under his careful guidance, already possessed a very good mentality and did not become overly excited or nervous just because their opponent was Manchester United.
But only Huang Hao himself knew how heavy the responsibility on his shoulders was at that moment.
Even if the team did everything to the extreme, the disparity in the players' individual strength was a topic that could never be ignored. This was also why strong teams were always busy in the transfer market.
Cambridge United's biggest characteristic at present was the stability of its lineup; the players had often gone through several seasons of baptism together, and there were almost no issues with squad integration.
However, fresh blood could bring more tactical changes and surprises to the team. If Cambridge United remained unchanged, they would soon be figured out by these famous coaches, especially those who had stumbled against Cambridge United.
On September 20th, Huang Hao led the Cambridge United players to Old Trafford stadium.
"We will not fear any strong opponent, nor will we give up any chance to win, but this does not mean that failure is unacceptable, provided that you have a clear conscience. Go!"
Huang Hao's rare show of weakness before this match was not to boost others' morale and diminish his own. Instead, it was more like a preemptive comfort.
Atkinson blew the whistle to start the match precisely when the watch on his wrist stopped at 3 PM.
Rooney tapped the ball back to Berbatov behind him, and Manchester United eagerly launched an attack on Cambridge United!
Although Kante directly tackled the ball from Carrick's feet with a slide, Scholes quickly moved in and passed the ball to Park Ji-sung on the wing.
Van Dijk and Park Ji-sung jumped simultaneously, and the interfered Park Ji-sung failed to head the ball properly, letting it fly directly out of bounds.
As Pantilimon was still undergoing treatment, the young Oblak continued to start.
To be safe, Oblak chose to kick the goal kick directly to Sun Jihai beside him.
After receiving the ball, Sun Jihai immediately tried to lob it towards the front field.
For Cambridge United, this style of play was also the most familiar way for wing players to cooperate.
However, this time, Gary Neville suddenly appeared between Mahrez and Vardy, successfully catching Sun Jihai's pass!
After Neville received the ball, before the two could close in, he immediately passed it to Carrick in front. Following that, the ball quickly rotated between Scholes and Valencia's feet, giving Cambridge United no chance to intercept!
Valencia, who finally got the ball, dribbled quickly from the center towards the right side of Cambridge United's penalty area!
Even though Cambridge United quickly formed a blockade line consisting of Golonas, Kante, and Sun Jihai in a small area, Valencia still easily shook off the three with acceleration and change of direction!
Seeing that Berbatov had successfully moved behind the three, Valencia immediately sent the ball to Berbatov's feet!
Sun Jihai was the first to rush towards Berbatov upon seeing this!
At this moment, Berbatov had already shot the ball towards Cambridge United's goal!
Just as Oblak bravely saved Berbatov's shot, the high-speed running Sun Jihai couldn't stop and directly knocked Berbatov down from behind!
A piercing whistle sounded, and Old Trafford immediately erupted in cheers!
Looking at Atkinson running towards the penalty area, Huang Hao gasped; this start was truly too awful!
Fortunately, Sun Jihai was only shown a yellow card, and Manchester United also got a penalty kick.
The young Oblak nervously watched Scholes, trying to predict the direction of the penalty kick from his movements.
The moment Scholes was about to kick the ball, a voice appeared in Oblak's mind: Left!
Hearing the voice, Oblak unhesitatingly dived towards the left side of the goal!
But just as his body flew out, he saw Scholes slowly push the ball towards the center of the goal!
As Heffernan's body fell heavily to the ground, the ball quietly rested in the center of the goal.
1:0!
Just two minutes into the match, Manchester United successfully scored! Ferguson's mouth curved slightly upwards, and he did not get up to celebrate much, as if this goal was completely within his plan!
One goal was clearly not enough to satisfy Manchester United's appetite; after scoring, Manchester United still maintained strong offensive pressure on Cambridge United!
Three minutes later, Neville received a pass from Scholes near the byline and successfully tapped the ball back to the center. Carrick took a curling shot from outside the box!
The ball flew towards the top right corner of Cambridge United's goal!
Fortunately, Oblak's save was timely this time, successfully tipping the ball out of bounds!
Within a few minutes, Huang Hao and the Cambridge United players felt that Manchester United was different from Tottenham and Chelsea!
Besides quick one-touch passing, Manchester United's pressing also became extremely aggressive!
Even Cambridge United's throw-ins were intercepted by Manchester United before they could reach their own players' feet!
Just as Huang Hao was lamenting that Ferguson and Manchester United were taking Cambridge United too seriously this time, Rooney directly intercepted Golonas's pass in the backfield. A few seconds later, Rooney appeared in Cambridge United's front field!
In front of Cambridge United's penalty area, Rooney adopted a shooting posture, but the ball, after passing through several Cambridge United defenders, landed directly at Berbatov's feet in the center!
Amidst the huge cheers of 76,000 fans, Berbatov once again powerfully blasted the ball into Cambridge United's goal!
It was only when Golonas, with a somewhat frustrated emotion, shot the ball towards the goal directly from outside the penalty area, that Cambridge United finally had their first shot of the match after the kickoff.
By this time, 10 minutes had already passed in the match.
However, when Golonas's shot approached the goal, it had lost enough power. Vidic jumped lightly and headed the ball directly out.
Neville won the ball and passed it directly to Scholes in midfield. Although Scholes's first through ball was headed back by Kante, the ball quickly returned to Scholes's feet.
This time, Scholes seized the opportunity and once again lobbed the ball into Cambridge United's penalty area!
Rooney successfully squeezed past the defenses of Lovren and Van Dijk to get the ball!
Fortunately, Van Dijk was not out of position; under his close marking, Rooney's shot angle was somewhat central, and Oblak directly blocked the ball out of bounds!
Oblak leaped high in front of the goal, firmly catching Rooney's header towards the goal, successfully defending Manchester United's attack.
Oblak, holding the ball in his arms, looked up at the giant LED screen at Old Trafford stadium, which showed that the match had just passed 12 minutes!
Oblak had a misconception that the match had been going on for a long time, but it had only been 12 minutes!
Somewhat dejected, he sighed softly, tried to lift his spirits, and kicked the ball directly to midfield.
If possible, he hoped this match would pass more quickly!
Oblak prayed to himself.
However, two minutes later, due to a teammate's passing error, the ball flew out of Manchester United's byline, and Cambridge United's attack came to an abrupt halt once again.
Foster, who had barely made any saves, seized the rare opportunity to touch the ball and kicked it directly to Evra on the left side of the front field.
Before Tadić could get close, Evra carried the ball horizontally to near the center circle, then made a wide-ranging pass, accurately sending the ball directly to Valencia on the right side of the penalty area!
Although eight Cambridge United players were gathered near Cambridge United's penalty area at this time, Lovren in the center was marking two Manchester United players by himself!
Berbatov eyed Scholes at the near post and immediately used his body to block Lovren!
Just then, Valencia sent the ball in front of the goal!
Lovren, who was tightly held by Berbatov, could only watch helplessly as Scholes delicately chipped the ball into the top right corner of the goal!
3:0!
Manchester United had scored three times in Cambridge United's goal in just 15 minutes!
Ferguson's team was dominating this match in a way that left their opponents almost despairing!
It wasn't until Scholes scored the third goal that Ferguson jumped out of his seat and pumped his fist in the air!
Huang Hao watched the celebrating Ferguson somewhat despondently. It seemed that three goals were the minimum consumption set by the Sir today!
With a three-goal lead, Manchester United's attacking rhythm finally slowed down, but the intensity of their pressing did not decrease at all!
Although Cambridge United failed to score, they at least did not allow Manchester United to continue to widen the score. Thus, at halftime, the score remained 3:0.